sit by the telephone
where ‘FEAR TOMORROW’
is carved in the wall
by an earnest unfortunate.Tonight is still CO:
constant observationfor short

I willwatch you when my coffee
is strongWhen I am weak think
of how you got here,and avoid anything sharp.”

* * *

“Smokebreak” comes from John Thomas Allen’s chapbook The Other Guy, published in August 2012 by Crisis Chronicles Press.The Other Guy is 16 pages, lovingly hand assembled, with a saddle stitch white and black card stock binding and cover art by Steven B. Smith. It is available for only $6 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th St. #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

John Thomas Allenis a 29 year old poet who lives in New York, for the moment. His work has appeared over 40 journals and he has been known to say that his chief ambition is “to write a real poem one of these days!”